


Astral distance

by WhiteSky1999



Series: Laven Week 2k17 [1]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Fluff, M/M, lavi is a ball of angst, the usual, they are dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 11:57:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11782683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteSky1999/pseuds/WhiteSky1999
Summary: It’s been a long time since Lavi and Allen had seen each other because of the constant missions. One day, Allen comes to his room just after going on a long mission to ask him about an object that he had obtained, and a promise forms between them.Laven Week 2k17: 12th- Nine of Clubs | endurance, disappointment, idealism





	Astral distance

The new headquarters were big, elegant and functional. For once, all the equipment was organized and in its place, the cafeteria had more windows that filtered the autumn light and the training grounds were an open space that let them breath fresh air when they most needed it.

But they were cold, impersonal, with white-painted walls and not enough furniture to make them seem more like a home for them. Lavi thought that it didn’t really matter anymore, because they were almost always running around, catching up with the missions they hadn’t been able to do when they were recovering and moving the headquarters.

Everyone looked grimmer, and Lavi wasn’t sure if it was because of the recent losses or because Central had been interfering more than usual with the Order and its staff. The cafeteria wasn’t as inviting as it had been before. The new people looked at them as if they were rare specimens and Lavi wondered if he had done that at some point as his role of Bookman. He sure hoped not. The result was that Exorcists and the few people they had confidence with in the Science Department grouped together to ignore the stares.

As Lavi stared at the wall in front of him, eye half-closed and fingers hitting the pen on the table, he asked himself if he had changed. That fight with Road in the Ark had really rattled him, had made him face things he didn’t want to acknowledge. He gritted his teeth. He had changed too much, he cared too much. The Order was steering him away from his original path and the bad part was that he didn’t mind that much. He wanted to punch himself.

Most importantly, he was so busy, that he didn’t have enough time to catch up with the other Exorcists as much as he’d like. He always came back tired and spent half his day sleeping, or doing reports for Bookman, so he didn’t have too much time to chat with his companions. He couldn’t call them friends, even if part of his mind screamed and hit him, telling him it was the opposite.

It was a long time since he last saw Allen, he thought and then grimaced and his pen fell on the table. He was doing it again. He was nearing dangerous territory. Allen Walker was a constant reminder that he had changed. He had hope, and he was still debating if it was a good thing. He couldn’t ignore the feeling, though, he knew he missed the white-haired boy.

“Lavi?” called a soft voice from the door and Lavi jumped, hitting his leg on the table and nearly falling down with his chair.

“Allen?” he mumbled to himself and he got up from the chair, leaving the report he was writing for Bookman under some of the newspapers they had in their room. They really needed to clean. He opened the door and grinned automatically and if his eye shone more than usual, that was just a trick of the light. “Hey, Beansprout, what do you need?”

“My _name_ is _Allen_ , Lavi,” snapped the boy and Lavi chuckled. Allen looked over his shoulder and to his sides and Lavi arched an eyebrow. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” said Lavi and took a step to the side so that the white-haired boy could enter his mess of a room. Lavi noticed the suitcase in his hand, the dirt on his pants and boots and red splotches on his skin. He grinned again and he tried to ignore just how genuine it was. “Got sunburned, uh?”

Allen sighed and plopped down on his bed, leaving his suitcase on the floor and looking exhausted. When the afternoon light illuminated his face, the red on his face was more pronounced and Lavi was surprised to see a few freckles on his cheeks and nose. He didn’t think it was cool that both of them had freckles and he definitely didn’t think it was adorable. He did _not_.

“Don’t remind me,” grumbled Allen while Lavi closed his door softly. The redhead practically jumped on the bed and the mattress wobbled. “It isn’t the first time. When I went to the South of Asia with Master, I always got sunburned. Some people even asked me if I was sick. It was horrible.”

Lavi laughed. He didn’t have that problem himself. He still got sunburn sometimes, but his skin was tanner than Allen’s and he didn’t live in the United Kingdom like his friend, so the pollution from the industry hadn’t affected him.

“So, got anything interesting to tell me?” asked Lavi with a big grin. He leaned on the headboard of the bed, avoiding hitting his head on the top bunk, and fixed his gaze on his companion, watching as he smiled slightly and reached for his suitcase.

“More like I need to ask you something,” he said with a shy tone that was rare to hear those days.

Lenalee had told Lavi one day that Johnny had noticed that the white-haired Exorcist had dropped his formal speech along the way and seemed closer to them. The redhead had already noticed before, Bookman and all, but he couldn’t help but share his friend’s excitement.

“Ah, Allen,” called Lavi while the younger Exorcist searched around the suitcase open on his lap. Allen hummed, but didn’t look up, white eyebrows furrowed and mouth in a thin line. “Where is Link? I don’t see any blond complaining about how you should go bath and rest. And where is Timcanpy?”

“Oh, that,” chuckled Allen, but it was tired and not as bright as it had once been and Lavi felt sad, even as he shoved the emotion away and tried to focus. “I’ve just been to eat. Link was talking with Jerry about a new recipe for a cake, so I just said that I’ll go to my room to leave this and grab some clothes to change into after the bath. I left Tim with him, just in case they finished talking before I came back. But I really needed to ask you about this…  thing.”

“Thing?” repeated Lavi with a curious eyebrow raised. He scooted closer to the other and tried to peek in his messy suitcase. “What thing?”

“I don’t know what it is.” Allen sighed. “That’s what I wanted to ask you. Someone in the village gave it to me when we told them we were travelers.”

Lavi hummed and waited impatiently, drumming his fingers on his knee and taking his bandana off before putting it back on several times. Finally, Allen cheered and raised the golden object. As he closed his suitcase again, Lavi tilted his head and observed the mysterious object. It was metallic, a faded golden colour and it had some mirrors and what Lavi deduced to be some filters on one side, while in the opposite side there was a thin visor. His eye widened, excited.

“Oh, this is a sextant,” he exclaimed and took it from Allen’s hands carefully. He analyzed the mirrors, the visor and the carved numbers that indicated the degrees.

“What is that?” asked Allen with a confused frown. Lavi smiled at him to put him at ease. While Allen knew a lot about the real world (sometimes he wondered if Allen knew more than him), about the darkest parts of humanity, he wasn’t as educated as him, didn’t know as much as he did. He was learning more and more, though, a curiosity fuelled by the Science Department.

“This is an astronomical object. It’s usually used by the sailors,” explained Lavi and turned the object in his hands. “I could tell you how it works, but it’s all astronomical and mathematical mumbo-jumbo. But, the summarized version is that it can tell you your position or the distance between two distant objects like, for example, the moon and a star.”

“I see,” mumbled Allen and took the sextant from Lavi hands more carefully than before, looking over the mirrors and numbers with sparked curiosity. “It would be great to try it. ”

“Yeah,” mumbled Lavi and, before he could stop himself, continued, “we could board a boat and try it sometime.”

He wanted to punch himself. He was entering in dangerous territory again, this time faster, with his arms wide open and a stupid smile on his face while he shouted that he was there. He wanted to punch himself so hard, for getting attached, for getting blinded by Allen’s light, for worrying about him when he saw how he hid a yawn and his arms trembled under his weight. He wasn’t supposed to say that, he wasn’t supposed to care. But, most of all, he mustn’t have gotten his hopes up. And yet…

“That would be perfect.” Allen smiled and his eyes shone with that dazzling light and Lavi was weak. So weak.

“I could try to teach you,” continued Lavi and his face stretched in a smile that made his eye soft and his heart sing. “I’m pretty sure you would be a genius at math. You could calculate everything so fast.”

“You’re saying that because of Master’s debts, right?” grunted Allen and his arms trembled for a last time before he collapsed on the mattress. “Ugh, I don’t feel okay at all.”

“Oh, c’mon, we still need to plan it out,” laughed Lavi and oh, he was in so much trouble already, he was digging his own grave there.

“Please, don’t make me pay for the boat, I’m still broke,” whined Allen and he rolled on the bed while Lavi laughed and took the sextant from his hands, leaving it on the bedside table before they broke it.

“Nah, we’ll get someone to pay for us,” said Lavi between laughs. He felt so light, it had been awhile since he had felt so good and at peace. “Or we’ll just steal it. It can’t be that difficult.”

“Yeah, it’s just a wooden structure that moves slowly in the water,” chuckled Allen. “Perfect escape. Hey, we could use it when Kanda goes after us. He doesn’t know how to swim, after all. 

Lavi laughed again.

He knew that it couldn’t be possible, that he was walking on thin ice, that something unexpected and _bad_ could happen at any moment. But he couldn’t bring himself to care, he just wanted to stay with Allen, that stubborn ball of light, and laugh and have a good time.

He would endure Bookman’s lecture later.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a self-indulgent fic in which I get to nerd over astronomical tools.


End file.
